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Sukowi Rangga
06111134
Introduction
Some phenomena related to the psychological disorder may already quite familiar in our
daily life, some examples of cases that might have been very common, such as trauma,
paranoia, phobias, and post-trauma is only a fraction of the number of cases that play a role in
many aspect of social situation since a very long time ago, another psychological cases that
fairly popular in the public knowledge is schizophrenia, which has an impact in a serious
levels and rated at the level of abnormal psychology. Csenarsky in his book entitled
Living as schizophrenic person may cause several problems in serious way. As the
consequence, the term "crazy" would likely be the only option to judge the person suffering
this kind of psychological abnormality. This because those who suffer schizophrenia usually
hallucinations, delusions, and excessive suspicions upon other people that gradually makes
them imagining something that does not really exist, creating their own imaginary world
further also creating imaginary people living inside of it whom unconsciously they would
start to interact with. This high level psychological disorder occurs until finally making them
find it difficult to distinguish which one is real and which is not real.
The problem of schizophrenia is an actual phenomenon concerns about the human
psychological aspect and also dealing with the study of abnormal psychology, according to
Kaplan;
what the writer tries to analyze in this thesis is correlating strong connection to the symptoms
imply a certain condition called as "Delusions" which almost the same with the another
often confusing public perception. These conditions are illustrated in Ron Howard’s movie
entitled A Beautiful Mind the writer found this fact as an interesting topic to discuss and
started wondering how it could be whenever he put this psychology theme for the analysis.
A Beautiful Mind is a 2001 Biopic of the famed mathematician John Nash and his
lifelong struggles with his mental health, inspired by a bestselling, Pulitzer Prize-nominated
1998 book of the same name by Sylvia Nasar, directed by Ron Howard and written by Akiva
Goldsman, starring; Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Ed Harris, Christopher Plummer and
Paul Bettany. This film grossed over $170 million worldwide, and went on to win four
Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best
Supporting Actress. It was also nominated for Best Leading Actor, Best Editing, Best
The story was begun when Nash enrolled as a graduate student at Princeton in 1948
and almost immediately stood out as an odd duck. Nash was so brilliant but somewhat
arrogant and antisocial man, he preferred to spend his time with his thoughts, which were
primarily of seeing mathematical formula associated with everyday occurrences, than with
people. Two people he did make a connection with were Charles, his roommate at Princeton,
and Alicia Larde, one of his students when he was teaching at M.I.T.
serve as his legacy to the world of mathematics. He devoted himself to finding something
unique, a mathematical theorem that would be completely original, he kept to himself for the
most part and while he went out for drinks with other students, he spends a lot of time with
his roommate, Charles, who eventually becomes his best friend. He finally makes a
revolutionary breakthrough.
From the heights of notoriety to the depths of depravity, John Forbes Nash, Jr.
career and stood on the brink of international acclaim. But the handsome and arrogant Nash
soon found himself on a painful and harrowing journey of self-discovery. in many years of
struggle to fight against schizophrenia, nash live in fantasy, he always think that the
government asks his help with breaking Soviet codes, which soon gets him involved in a
In the early 1950's John is soon a professor at MIT where he meets and eventually
married a graduate student, Alicia. Over time however John begins to lose his grip on reality
that grows more and more paranoid until a discovery that turns his entire world upside down.
Now it is only with Alicia's help that he will be able to recover his mental strength and regain
As time goes on, Nash lives more and more within himself which causes major
problems in his life. But Alicia stands by her husband to his redemption to the Nobel Prize
win. Nash learns that his graduate school colleagues, with whom he had a cordial but
somewhat distant relationship, are closer friends than he imagined, although in his later life
he really does miss Charles' company more than anything despite knowing that spending time
with Charles is not in his or anyone's best interest eventually being institutionalized
diagnosed with schizophrenia. As the depths of his imaginary world are revealed, Nash
withdraws from society and it's not until the 1970s that he makes his first foray back into the
world of academics, gradually returning to research and teaching. In 1994, John Nash was
After gathering information related to John Nash case, the writer found the case of
“Schizophrenia is a heterogeneous disorder with symptoms that often vary over the
course of the illness. One of the characteristic clinical features is the marked distortion
of reality, often referred to as positive symptoms. These symptoms are typically
associated with the acute phase of the disorder, and include hallucinations, delusions,
and other experiences that would be considered grossly abnormal” (Csenarsky 2001;
6).
.
With the same case John Nash shown in the movie, the author could not get more interest in
digging the study. Thus, in this writing, grounded by John Nash characterization, action,
behavior, and thought along the movie, the writer hopes of a chance to elaborate the analysis
The aim of this study is to find; how does positive symptom of schizophrenia suffered by
It becomes the hope of the writer to meet this result below after concluding the discussion
in this writing. Therefore, the objectives of the study deal with this psychoanalytic approach
are; to describe the positive symptom of schizophrenia suffered by John Nash in the Ron
By involving John Nash case of abnormal psychology, it is aimed that the writer could fulfill
information for this psychoanalysis study. Regarding schizophrenia as the specific field of
discussion, the writer will elaborating the positive symptom of schizophrenia, rooting from
Psychology field itself, the writer would present literature study on the branch of
psychoanalytic study.
Through John Nash, the writer hopes the readers could feel empathy toward the solving-
solution for people who suffering schizophrenia. The reader could make a better treats for
clinical psychology cases, and be wise enough to give his full gratitude to help the sufferer
Using John Nash the main character of A Beautiful Mind as the main object of this
discussion, to avoid out-scoping materials to be discussed, the writer scopes his analysis on
psychoanalysis study. Later, in the discussion, the writer will deal on the field of
psychological approach, and constrict the study into specific field in a positive symptom of
symptom of Schizophrenia.
Chapter Two
Theoretical Framework
The writer has employed theory and concepts in composing this research. For
become the writer choice for the guidance of this writing. Psychoanalysis study, which has
been mentioned in the previous phase, would give me referent for analyzing the positive
symptom of schizophrenia. It will also become the basis for this research to stand all the
method of treating emotional and psychological disorders (Bressler 1998: pg. 148-150). The
study would gather analysis on human psychology, a thing according to Freud, human’s
original part despite of outer look the environment could view. In further study, Freud
exposed more illustration how human’s psyche (psychology) derived into certain part and
ruled areas of each human brain functions; deals with thoughts, the way of thinking,
behavior, and actions. It takes two major parts of consciousness and unconsciousness; one
Though psychoanalysis order is extremely clear brought by Sigmund Freud, the world
of psychology is still enormous in exploration. Thus, psychology criticism has lot of branches
and sub-branches. It has been ramified into some distinguished fields, since psychology not
only deal with the inner study of human psychology, but also to the disorders. It is not only
giving contributions to the world of medical and health service dealing with human
psychology, but also being a big helpful hand for literary analysis.
“Unlike some other school of criticism psychoanalytic criticism can exist side
by side with any other critical method of interpretation. Because this
approach attempts to explain the how and why of human action without
developing and unaesthetic theory a systematic, philosophical body of beliefs
concerning how many occurs in literature- Marxists, Feminist, and New
Historicist, for example, can use Psychoanalytic methods in their
interpretation without violating their own hermeneutics. Psychoanalytic
criticism, then, may best be called an approach to literary interpretation rather
than a particular analytic criticism” (Bressler 1998: pg. 148).
another type of criticism, the study throughout psychological study in literature has number
of approaches. Taking example the exploration from the author thought represented by the
works or character analysis on the work deals with psychology field study. Thus, the field of
psychological approach is still unilaterally indefinable by its various scope of field each
characters of psychological study subjects. As being narrated by Bressler (1998: pg. 147-
149), the history of psychological study has been started from from Freud’s psychoanalysis,
Frye’s archetypal psychology, Lacan’s symbolic order, and some more modern analysis on
The theory above will be the main basis for the writer as an approach in the
preparation of concept analysis to elaborate the overall scope of the discussion which is a
2.2. Psychopathology
The discussion of psychopathology study overshadow all the theories about abnormal
behavior such as personal disorder and schizophrenia, therefore the author chose to use this
study as a guide for support to the validity of this analysis. Lemma. Alessandra in her book
abnormal/maladaptive behavior. The term is most commonly used within psychiatry where
pathology refers to disease processes. Abnormal psychology is a similar term used more
Lemma;
This theory will be the main guideline for the author in conducting this research, the
application of the theory of schizophrenia would be the main frame authors to test the
compatibility between theory and object of this analysis, using the main character of A
Beautiful Mind film named John Nash who according to the initial hypothesis, the author
assumes that John Nash in A Beautiful Mind film have shown an identical symptoms of
schizophrenia.
Schizophrenia is a chronic, severe, and disabling brain disease. People with
schizophrenia often suffer terrifying symptoms such as hearing internal voices not heard by
others, or believing that other people are reading their minds, controlling their thoughts, or
plotting to harm them. These symptoms may leave them fearful and withdrawn. Their speech
others. Available treatments can relieve many symptoms, but most people with schizophrenia
continue to suffer some symptoms throughout their lives; it has been estimated that no more
than one in five individuals recovers completely. According to Muesser and Gingerich;
The term ‘schizophrenia’ was firstly stems from Professor DR. Eugen Bleuler
(1911/1950), who acknowledged in his preface his indebtedness to Emil Kraepelin for
‘grouping and description of the separate symptoms’ and to Sigmund Freud, whose ideas
Bleuler used to ‘advance and enlarge the concepts of psychopathology’. He retained the
separation from manic-depressive psychosis while pointing out those affective symptoms
could coexist. Bleuler in his book entitled The Theory of Schizophrenic Negativism stated
that;
“The schizophrenic splitting of the psyche, which hinders the proper balancing of the
opposing and cooperating psychisms, with the result thatcthe most inappropriate
impulse can be transferred into action just as well as the right impulse aneKthat in
addition to the right thought, or instead of it, its negative can be thought” (Bleuler. E
1912; 9).
2.4. History of Schizophrenia
The history of Schizophrenia begins with two prominent names in psychology, the
first is Emil Kraepelin (1856–1926), a German psychiatrist, who adopted the term dementia
praecox to classify a group of disorders that had as their common feature intellectual and
cognitive deterioration early in life, probably beginning during adolescence. Kraepel in stated
that this disorder could be differentially diagnosed from other mental disorders because the
individual’s cognitive functions deteriorated over time, unlike other disorders such as
progressive brain deterioration, and we certainly have the technology available to track any
brain degeneration. Oddly, if brain degeneration has occurred, it is usually the result of long
The other one is Eugen Bleuler (1857–1939) a Swiss psychiatrist and Kraepelin’s
contemporary. Bleuler agreed with some but not all of Kraepelin’s concepts about the
disorder. He did not believe that dementia praecox always ended with the individual
experiencing cognitive and intellectual deterioration, and he also did not believe that this
disorder always had its onset in late adolescence. He thus used the term Schizophrenia, which
literally means “split it mind” or “splitting of mental associations.” Bleuler felt that this was
the distinguishing characteristic of Schizophrenia, that is, a thought disorder where the
thoughts and thought processes are disorganized, the individual “split its off” from reality
(their intellect is split off from external reality), and where the individual does not
demonstrate coherence or logical links between his or her thoughts and emotions.
affecting the most fundamental human attributes: language, thought, perception, affect, and
sense of self. The array of symptoms, while wide ranging, frequently includes psychotic
meaning to normal events or holding fixed false personal beliefs (delusions). No single
symptom is definitive for diagnosis; rather, the diagnosis encompasses a pattern of signs and
typically divided into positive and negative symptoms because of their impact on diagnosis
“Observations by the early diagnostic clinicians and more recent scientific analysis of
symptom presentation suggest that multiple replicable groupings of symptoms can be
found in schizophrenia. These include: 1) positive symptoms such as hallucinations
and delusions, 2) thought disorder features demonstrated by impairments in thought
process, 3) negative symptoms typified by the absence of behaviors (e.g., emotional
affect) common in unaffected individuals, and 4) other symptoms found in
schizophrenia but also common in other major psychiatric disorders (e.g., depressed
mood). Some uncertainty exists as to which symptoms are primary features of the
illness and which symptoms are actually secondary, occurring as a result of the
expression of the primary symptoms. The following sections provide a detailed
description of these symptom dimensions and their assessment” (Csenarnsky 2001;
32).
normal bodily functions. For instance, if you are schizophrenic your senses may operate at a
heightened and excessive state. Positive signs of schizophrenia include hallucination and
eg; sufferer may feel persecuted, sufferer may feel as if the television or radio is talking
directly to them, sufferer may hold false beliefs about your physical state or sufferer may
feel that they have special abilities or powers. According to Muesser and Gingerich;
“Positive symptoms of schizophrenia are defined by the presence of patently absurd
or false thoughts, behaviors, or feelings. Two types of psychotic symptoms are most
common in schizophrenia: hallucinations and delusions. For many people these
symptoms fluctuate over time. They may be intense at certain times, requiring the
person to be monitored closely or hospitalized. At other times positive symptoms may
be mild or absent. Between 25% and 50% of people with schizophrenia experience
some persistent positive symptoms.” (Muesser and Gingerich 2006; 21).
2.4.2.1. Hallucination
A hallucination is the brain's reception of a false sensory input. This essentially means
that the person having a hallucination is experiencing an event through one of their senses
that is not occurring in the real world. This can be through any of the senses, with tactile then
auditory hallucinations being the most common. According to Muesser and Gingerich;
When auditory hallucinations are examined, the most common are hearing one's own
thoughts as if they were being spoken aloud, followed by hearing one's name being called by
a voice when alone, the terms hallucinations can take a number of different forms, According
how they affect them. Your relative may be suspicious of you due to past experiences with
others who reacted negatively when she talked about her hallucinations. Your relative may
have a strong sense of privacy that makes her reluctant to talk about these symptoms. If your
relative does not want to talk about these symptoms, respect her wishes. You may still be
able to address some of the feelings associated with hallucinations without talking about the
symptoms themselves.
2.4.2.2. Delusions
Delusion is a belief that is clearly false and that indicates an abnormality in the
affected person's content of thought. The false belief is not accounted for by the person's
cultural or religious background or his or her level of intelligence. The key feature of a
delusion is the degree to which the person is convinced that the belief is true. A person with a
delusion will hold firmly to the belief regardless of evidence to the contrary. Delusions can be
difficult to distinguish from overvalued ideas, which are unreasonable ideas that a person
holds, but the affected person has at least some level of doubt as to its truthfulness. A person
with a delusion is absolutely convinced that the delusion is real. According to Muesser and
Gingerich;
“A delusion is a false belief or a belief not shared by others in the person’s culture or
religion. Delusions appear quite real to the person but seem impossible or untrue to
others. Many different types of delusions exist. These are some of the most common
There are four common types of delusions that usually experienced by people suffering from
In the following example (from Muesser and Gingerich 2006; 261) illustrated a conversation
By reflecting back her relative’s feelings, she communicate that her mother was on her side
and want to help. If her relative is willing to talk about these feelings, the discussion can turn
to strategies for dealing with them and the delusional beliefs associated with them.
Chapter Three
Research Methodology
Nash. Directed by Ron Howard and written by Akiva Goldsman. Starring; Russell Crowe,
Jennifer Connelly, Ed Harris, Christopher Plummer and Paul Bettany. This film grossed over
$170 million worldwide, and went on to win four Academy Awards, including Best Picture,
Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Supporting Actress. It was also nominated
for Best Leading Actor, Best Editing, Best Makeup, and Best Score.
In holding this research, the writer uses library research to collect the data needed. The
observation conducts on some researchable guidance like internet, books, linguistic analysis
paper and other media which required as supporting data. Theory by experts related to
Psychological approach upon psychopathology field, become a helpful hand for the writer to
symptom of schizophrenia suffered by the main character, John Nash, through the
movie.
2. Collecting data related to psychology field to find out the exact term of positive
trough main character of Ron Howard’s A Beautiful Mind John Forbes Nash.
References
D. Wickens et all. 1988. Psychology. Houghton Mifflin Company. One Beacon Street,
Boston, MA. U.S.A.
Paris, Bernard J. Imagined Human Beings: a Psychological Approach to Character
and Conflict in Literature. W.W. Norton: New York.
Non-Profit Resource.